The title of this article is deliberately startling, to get your attention to help you help yourself.

We ARE under attack; every day, from within ourselves and without. Anxiety attacks us about any number of subjects; money, health, the future, our survivability and more. Will we keep our job? How will we pay the bills? Why do I feel so angry and frustrated all the time? How will I ever survive?

These feelings are being gently and persuasively generated by our cultural climate. We are inundated with programs and commercials that talk about how WRONG we are, how in DANGER we are, how HELPLESS we are. It’s the POLITICS OF FEAR, and it has a reason. "If it BLEEDS, it LEADS". No one is hiding that concept, in fact, many in the media boast about it.

With a media culture bent on sensationalism, it seems like no one is watching the store. In the quest for ratings and viewership, TV and other programs push the sensationalist limits. But what is the cost, the very personal cost to US?

It is an overabundance of anxiety and fear!

When people have fear, they automatically go into "fight or flight". We get ready to defend, our anger levels go way up, our patience drops to almost nothing and we are on the defensive. We get ready to run, to escape, to find refuge in anything that will take us away from all this.

Of course, the public responds to fear. We can see this in action in attendance records and sales figures that the media also report.

Escapist movies are on the rise-- attendance is at a record high. Films about action heroes, superheroes, magical adventures are more popular than ever. Why not? This is escapist entertainment and gives us a sense of hope, by vicariously living through the characters in the movie. The 1930's Hollywood musicals were no accident. In the post depression days, people went to see them to escape the reality of those harsh economic times.

Violence is up. Computer games-- notorious for violence-- are growing increasingly violent and are enjoying record sales. Through these games we can express our rage and anger, fight against the unseen odds, though in reality, we accomplish nothing more than venting our rage. Better to do it on a computer character than a human being, of course. But it is no mystery WHY the sales are up. There is a need to vent, and these games are providing an outlet.

The point is that our current social situation is causing extreme mental distress, and there does not appear to be any relief in sight. Our economic situation only adds to the burden.

But we are not stuck with escapism and violence as a way to maintain our mental health and well being. There IS another and much better way!

The important issue here-- that is sometimes difficult to see-- is that we MUST take care of ourselves in productive and healthy ways. While escaping through a movie or fighting back through a computer game gives us a sense of temporary relief, it is only a patch. When the movie is over, when we've won the game, we are still faced with the same issues that drove us to them in the first place.

To take care of ourselves, we MUST boost our mental defenses by empowering our minds, our subconscious thinking. It comes from within, not without. When we change from the terrible focus on "doom and gloom", we are no longer paralyzed by fear and confusion. We are able to take action-- personal and sensible action-- in the days of our lives to care for ourselves and maintain our mental balance. And there are critical areas of our mental well being that we need to focus on.

Self-Esteem is one of our most precious assets, and it is constantly under attack from insidious sources. When we see an ad about diets, we are subtly receiving a message that WE need to go on a diet. That means there is something wrong with us that needs to be fixed. This attacks our self esteem. We feel bad about our SELVES.

Some of us DO need to change our eating behavior to manage better weight. But that is a change in our behavior, not ourselves. We need to see that we CAN do this, not that we ARE fat. We may have extra fat, which can be reduced or eliminated. Bet we are NOT fat. We are PEOPLE. But with low self esteem, we see ourselves as the problem, and of course, then, there is no solution.

When we see ads for combating hair loss, we may feel that there is something WRONG with us, that we are UGLY, UNDESIRABLE, and UNATTRACTIVE because we are losing hair. Yet hair loss is a natural experience.

Many people are attracted to people with thinning hair or who are completely bald. It is not the hair that makes a person attractive or desirable; it is who we are and how we behave. But the implication-- which sells a lot of product-- is that if we are losing hair, we are fundamentally wrong. So our self esteem goes down.

And of course in our social interactions, with people being quick to anger, we can hear and say harsh words that also attack self esteem. Road rage, common discourtesy, deliberate insults, mocking and so on, all these things erode self esteem.

So we need to keep our self esteem UP and strong.

But, how?

We can maintain and even boost our self esteem ourselves-- automatically and easily-- with self esteem boosting programs, such as self hypnosis tapes and CDs or Subliminal Message programs designed to change our self talk and enhance our self esteem. The cost for most of these programs is usually low, possibly less than the price of a movie and popcorn, yet it provides a LIFETIME of benefit. They gently and subtly replace negative self talk and our negative self view to a vision of ourselves as strong, confident, worthy and capable. They help us see, and stand in, the truth of who we are, people capable of dynamic and positive change.

It's like the proverb: "Give a man a fish, he eats for a day -- teach a man to fish, he eats for a lifetime."

The movie or escapism gives us a fish, while a subliminal message or self hypnosis program TEACHES us to fish -- so to speak.

More and more, as we are exposed to "Doom and Gloom" messages, we feel powerless and unable to act. This is a reduction in assertiveness -- our ability to ask for what we need and want. We may feel that we cannot get help with bills, so why ask? That no one has any answers, so why ask?

A tragic example of this is in democratic politics. How many people have said they won't bother to cast their vote because "...it doesn't matter."

It DOES matter, in spite of all the manipulations and corruptions in any political system. We need to exercise our political right that so many have struggled to preserve and get out and vote for the candidate of our choice. When we say "It makes no difference", not only is a potentially fine candidate at risk, WE are at risk. We are tossing away our only political power. On a personal level, we DO lose, because we have given up.

Giving up is not the answer. It solves nothing at all.

The answer is to maintain our assertiveness levels--- to continue to ask for what we need, politely, with courtesy and respect and stick to asking for what we need. People STILL are flexible and do help each other. Votes DO count, regardless of what people say. When we vote, we exercise assertiveness because we ASK for what we want - our candidate of choice to become our leader. When we ask a bank or credit card company for help, we are assertive, asking for what we need to keep up good business. Many banks and credit card companies are very willing to help. They are people too, facing the same problems!

So, maintaining high assertiveness is important to good mental helath and a sense of well being. The way to maintain assertiveness is through self hypnosis and subliminal message programs. The few minutes a day it takes to experience them pays back in a lifetime of strength and ability to get our needs met.

Of course, when things get tough, the first thing we want to do is avoid them. This is natural, but not always helpful. When we avoid paying bills until it is too late, we get into trouble. When we avoid doing a job until it is past deadline, we get into trouble. We cannot avoid our responsibilities or put them off. Our obligations are on a schedule that must be met. But in our need to escape, we put it all off.

The way to manage this is with self hypnosis and subliminal message programs designed to deal with procrastination. They help us feel comfortable, even enthusiastic, about meeting our deadlines and responsibilities. Subliminal message programs and self hypnosis programs that deal with procrastination can save us from a world of trouble.

Escape comes in many forms, sometimes through overeating and unhealthy habits, such as smoking. Of course, this is a patch on the problem, not a solution-- and it is natural to lean towards them because we seem them in the media. Something goes wrong, "I need a drink". Things are tough "I need a cigarette". Get bad news? "I need to eat". We see characters exhibiting this behavior all the time. Of course, these solutions solve nothing and it is when they are MOST attractive that we need to avoid them.

Self hypnosis and subliminal message programs can be very helpful in these matters. There are many stop smoking and healthy weigh subliminal message and self hypnosis programs available. The cost is less than that of the habit, and the health benefits, even if they only get us to reduce our indulgence, is well worth it!

As times get tough, we have to get tough and take positive action to maintain our mental health from erosion. We need self esteem, confidence, and assertiveness to manage our lives when things are difficult. We are not alone, and we are not powerless. Our wonderful technology, audio and computer, makes it possible for us to get and use self hypnosis and subliminal message programs for our benefit and well being.

With the strong personal defense of self esteem and assertiveness-- and more, we are safe, we are strong. We remain secure and strong no matter what life sends our way, no matter what dire messages of "doom and gloom" or "You're not good enough" come our way because we stand tall and strong in our own personal truth. We know who we are, what we can do, and are empowered to take positive action in our lives.

ClydeSight Productions has a number of personal self help subliminal message programs that can help in these areas, from Self Esteem to Assertiveness, Procrastination Management and more. They are called "Brain Wave Stimulating Subliminal Perception Programs" (DSPP) because they use the natural power of subliminal perception to empower your subconscious mind for positive change.